The Coast Guard has suspended their search for two missing crew members who reportedly fell overboard off the M/V HANJIN PRETORIA in the North Pacific on a voyage from Long Beach, CA to Asia.

The state funded emergency response tug stationed in Neah Bay, WA received orders to assist the disabled U.S. container ship, Horizon Tacoma after the ship shut down their engines due to smoke coming from the engine’s turbocharger while transiting the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  The ship is operated by Horizon Lines. Here is the [...]

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A 26-foot wave smashed into a cruise ship carrying nearly 2,000 people in the Mediterranean on Wednesday, smashing glass windshields and killing two passengers, according to officials and news reports. Another six people suffered light injuries, the Greek coast guard said in a statement. The victims were identified as a German [...]

The vessel was sailing towards Skagway, having entered Favorite Channel. The Channel is located north of Stephens Passage, between Shelter Island and the mainland. She had 307 passengers and 80 crew aboard when the steamship, captained by Graham O. Hughs hit the rocks at Point Lena.

At the time of the sinking, around 0300 hours as passengers and most crew slept, Chief Officer Charles W. Savage was on the bridge. Savage would later say though the ship had radar, it had not been turned on. A company spokesman told the press that whether or not to turn on the radar was a decision made by the officer in charge and apparently Savage did not deem the situation radar worthy as it traveled off shore at a speed said to be 9 knots.

The Obama administration is increasingly facing on the Coast Guard 2011 fiscal year budget proposal criticism following the scornful hearing with the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation this past Thursday. The Coast Guard unlike the Department of Defense is facing a shrinking budget while trying to maintain some of the oldest ships [...]